SITCOM on stage is probably a fair way to sum up Snakes and Ladders, the latest theatrical offering from Eric Chappell - creator of Rising Damp and Only When I Laugh.
There is even TV comedy veteran, Paul Nicholas, late of Just Good Friends, who, in Snakes and Ladders, abandons the cheeky chappie persona to play the anxious Sam, who has not been enjoying the best of years.
Down on his luck and nearly broke, his fragile frame of mind is not helped by learning that wife, Fay (Judy Buxton), has got them into their Spanish holiday villa under false pretences.
The villa should have been let out to faded TV star living on past glories, Howard Booth (Ian Ogilvy), who, naturally enough in the way of these scripts, turns up to set in motion a chain of events revolving around a mix-up of bags and a haul of cash stolen in a raid.
Putting temptation in the way of these characters, who include young actress, Dodie (Rachel Rhodes) - Howard's extra marital fling interest - brings out the worst in them.
Looking over their shoulders at the prospect of a villain turning up on the doorstep to reclaim the loot is their main worry.
Snakes and Ladders runs at Malvern Theatres until this Saturday.
Review by Peter McMillan
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